Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2016)
“Anything from substance abuse to self harm behavior or gambling, sex, food, anything that can be an addictive behavior for people” S te p h a n ie S c h a e fe r, E s th e r Jacobs and C h e ls ia Block offer free meetings where they help people tackle their addictive b e h a v io r s . T h e m e e t in g s a re h e ld in R o g e r R o o k r o o m 2 2 0 . STORY AND PHOTO BY ELIZABETH KESSEL Smart Recovery is an anonymous, self- help and support group where everyone com es together to help identify w hat issues need to be addressed. Esther Jacobs, a facilitator for Smart Recovery said, “ Smart is an unique group, cause it’s not just focused on alcohol and drugs; smart is helping you learn tools to behave more like you want to behave.” Smart Recovery is made for addictive behaviors but S tep h an ie S ch aefer, the adviser o f Sm art Recovery here at Clackamas Community College, welcomes everybody who wants to learn good life skills. Currently meetings are held each week on Tuesdays from 4 -5 3 0 p .m . and on Wednesdays 2 3 0 -4 p .m . You can find these meetings in Roger Rook room 220. The groups consist norm ally o f five people per m eeting on Tuesdays and are accom panied by a m ix o f three facilitators, Schaefer, Jacobs and Chelsia Block. The group tends to be smaller on Wednesdays, but Schaefer says even if one person shows up they will stay for them . The m eetings start o ff w ith a few minutes of meditation exercise, focusing on b reath in g, th en it turns to the participants. The facilitators then ask them their names, along with identifying a struggle or challenge from the past accompanied by a success. M eetings are lead by a structure o f cognitive behavioral treatments, such as dialectical behavioral therapy. According to a member o f Smart Recovery, DBT is w hat counselors use outside o f Sm art Recovery. In real life, they put DBT into practice whenever they can remember the skills. There are four skills taught through DBT: m indfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation. It is very similar to what is covered in the m eetings and slightly adjusted to what each person would like to address that day. A cco rd in g to B lo ck , “ It could be anything from like substance use to self- harm behavior or gambling, sex, food just anything that can kind of be an addictive behavior for people.” So how did Sm art Recovery begin at C C C ? Sch aefer said , “ I used to facilitate Smart Recovery when I was an undergraduate at the Providence Portland location and I loved it and had done it for a while. A student saw me teaching one day and recognized me from that meeting. And the student approached me and said, ‘Hey I think we should start a club/ and I said, ‘Yeah let’s bring smart to Oregon C ity.’ ” “We spent a lot of time sitting together by ourselves waiting for people to show up to Sm art m eetings trying different days different times. It took about a year for us to get a regular following of people and then we found the Tuesday 4 p .m .- 530 p.m . slot and that has been a solid slot for probably about a year and half now and yeah that’s kind of how Smart started,” said Schaefer. Such a simple beginning has turned into an effective way to help students with or without addictive behavior. Smart Recovery is here to stay and is open for everyone, stud ents and com m unity members. Addiction is som ething that affects a lot o f college students and having an option available that is free is invaluable. Smart Recovery is based on therapeutic techniques and science; on campus it is an open, friendly and anonymous place for anyone to talk about their troubles. Correction: A teaser on the cover of Issue 23 of The Clackamas Print was misleading; the Army Strong Community Center is closing in June, not the Veterans Center. The Print regrets the ambiguity. ON THE COVER: A. fo rm e r Clackam as s tu d e n t relaxes a t O pal Creek. P h o to b y M egan McCoy. Sasquatch illu s tra tio n b y Saige Keikkala. Cover d e isgn b y B randon C horum . theclackamasprintxom___________ ________________________________________________ O O B Edltors-ln-Chief Andrew Kocaan & Megan McCoy, chiefed@dackanas.edu: News Editors Merari Calderon Ruiz. Shaytyn Struna, newsed@dackamas.edu: Arts & Culture Matthew Rownng. aced@dadamas.edu; Sports Editor James Harley, spoftsed@clackama5.edu; Associate Sports Editor Travis Whittaker; Copy Editor Blake Swan, copyed@dadtamas.edu; Design Editor Brandon Chorum. Photo Editor Victoria Tinker, photoed@dadamas.edu; Bustrator Saige Keikkala; Web Editor Lexie Wagar. webeditof@dadamas.edu; Ad Manager total Scott admgr@dadamas.edu; Videographer Taras Kovch; Staff Writers I Photographers Edgard tttenoa. Elizabeth Kesset Debbie Fox. Kristen Wohlers, Tom Boggess: Producttoo David Avis; Journal ism Adviser Melissa Jones, mdissaj@dackamas.edu; Ita Oackamas Print a m to report the news in an honest unbased and professional manner Content pubfeted in The Print is not screened or sutxea to censorship Email comments, concerns or bps to dwted@dadumasedu or call us at 503-59*6266 19600 Molalla Ave, Oregon City. OR 97045 2 dartamas tort JUNE 1 ,2016!hedadarraspnnL(om
